Connor Bedard Needs to Play For Canada at the World Championships – The Hockey Writers –

Last offseason, a big topic surrounding the Chicago Blackhawks and Connor Bedard was the fact that Bedard didn’t go to Europe to play for Team Canada at the World Championship.

He went in 2024, but, as widely reported, he decided to stay back home to have a full offseason to work on his game. The decision appeared to pay off, as he had his best season yet, playing 69 games and posting career highs in goals (30), assists (45), and points (75).

Although he thrived with the Blackhawks, many speculated that his not going to the World Championship was one of the reasons he didn’t get selected for the Canadian Olympic team.

This Summer Is the Perfect Opportunity

Now that Bedard has taken a significant step in his game, I think this chance would be a great opportunity to further his development for multiple reasons.

The first point I want to make is that Bedard only played 69 games because of a shoulder injury he suffered against the St. Louis Blues, as many may remember. I think the fact that he only played 69 NHL games and no Olympic hockey this season means it would be great for him to get the extra games in, plus the extra games still won’t be enough to get him to 82 games on the season.

As long as his shoulder is healthy, it wouldn’t take too much of a toll on his body like it might for older players, or players who played a full NHL season, Olympics and maybe a round of playoff hockey.

With the Blackhawks not playing big games this season, it’ll also give Bedard the perfect opportunity to gain more experience in high-leverage positions. We’ve seen it be valuable as recently as this season after Tage Thompson won the tournament with Team USA, and then led the Buffalo Sabres to their first playoff appearance since 2011.

Another thing I want to point out is that the Blackhawks obviously intend to become a contender for a playoff spot sometime soon. We’ve seen guys in the system like Anton Frondell and Sacha Boisvert already play minutes for the Blackhawks.

To be quite honest, I think this was the last season where it was somewhat acceptable for Chicago not to be playing meaningful hockey into March and early April. That is exactly why this summer is the best opportunity for Bedard to make an appearance with Canada.

I’d much rather have him play the extra hockey in a season where he doesn’t have to play in the playoffs or hard games down the stretch, battling for the playoffs.

Connection With Hockey Canada

As a Canadian, this is just one of the countless things that frustrate me with Hockey Canada. As I mentioned earlier, there was speculation that Bedard wasn’t selected to the Olympic team because he rejected the invitation last summer to go to the World Championship.

Now I don’t think that was the be-all and end-all, but I definitely believe it was a factor. We saw the reports that Nick Suzuki declining the invite to go to the World Championship in 2024 hurt his case to make the 4 Nations Face-Off.

Tampa Bay Lightning general manager (GM) Julien BriseBois was involved in the Team Canada front office as an assistant GM. He did say that Suzuki not going to the World Championship wasn’t a factor in his snub from the 4 Nations Face-Off team. He also said if players do go, it helps Hockey Canada evaluate players they may not be too familiar with.

While I don’t think that should matter for players, the level of Bedard might need to play a little bit of politics if he wants to get a leg up in the selection process of making future World Cup or Olympic teams.

It would also be great for Bedard to surround himself with top-level NHL veterans. The roster hasn’t been announced yet, but Mark Scheifele and John Tavares are among some of the guys who have committed to playing for Canada.